Theme: Judgment
and doom are certain unless there is repentance.
Only repentance will bring hope and restoration.
Time: 630BC (640-612)
To: Judah & the Nations

Christ in
Zephaniah—Jesus alluded to Zephaniah on two occasions (cf.
Zeph 1:3; Mt. 13:41 and cf. Zeph 1:15; Mt. 24:29). Both of
these passages about the day of the Lord are associated with
Christ’s second advent. Although the Messiah is not
specifically mentioned in Zephaniah, it is clear that He is
the One who will fulfill the great promises (Zeph 3:9–20). He
will gather His people and reign in victory: “The Lord has
taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The
King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall see
disaster no more” (Zeph 3:15). (Wilkinson, B., & Boa, K. Talk
thru the Bible)

Christ in
Zephaniah - Jesus Christ hides us from God's wrath and is
the One Who will someday rule the earth as King of
Israel (Zeph 3:15-17)

Christ in All the
Scriptures (A M Hodgkin): This short book has
been called “The Compendium of all prophecy.” It is a survey
of the universal government of Jehovah, His judgment of the
whole earth.

Zephaniah (“the
watchman of Jehovah”) gives his own genealogy to the fourth
generation, showing his descent from Hizkiah, who is probably
identical with King Hezekiah. He prophesied during the early
part of the reign of Josiah, before idolatry had been put away
by the reforms of that king.

Zephaniah’s
prophecy is marked by the emphasis he lays upon the Day of the
Lord. The final application is to the Day of Christ. The
impressive language can only find its fulfillment in the great
Day of His wrath, described in Revelation 6. “A day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasting and
desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds
and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm” (Zephaniah
1:14–16).

But meanwhile, a
day of judgment was near for Judah on account of her sins. He
urges her to seek the Lord while there is still time. He then
proclaims God’s judgment upon various nations which have
oppressed God’s people—upon Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Ethiopia,
Assyria, prophesying the fall and utter desolation of Nineveh.

The third chapter
shows God’s coming judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem, and the
future restoration and joy of God’s people in the day of the
Messiah.

The Lord in the
Midst. The third chapter contains a beautiful lesson,
taken spiritually. It describes the sinful condition of a soul
apart from Christ— Zephaniah 3:1, sins of commission;
Zephaniah 3:2, sins of omission. Those who should have been
leaders in righteousness are leaders in iniquity—princes,
judges, prophets, priests. Then the Lord Himself takes the
place of these leaders, and we see Him “in the midst,”
fulfilling each office in turn.

First He
comes to our hearts as judge, and convicts us of all that is
sinful there, bringing His judgment to light (Zephaniah
3:5–7).

Second, He
comes as Prophet, teaching us with pure lips to call upon His
name—still “in the midst,” dealing with the pride of heart,
and bringing us low into the place of blessing, in the
presence of His holiness (Zephaniah 3:8–13).

Third, He
comes “into our midst” as King, to reign in undisputed sway in
the heart that is surrendered to Him. When the Lord reigns
thus the song begins (Zephaniah 3:14–16).

Fourth, He
is “in the midst” as our Great High Priest, bringing us into
the place of communion with Himself. Here we know Him as the
Beloved of our souls. “He will rejoice over thee with joy, He
will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.”

The chapter closes
with six beautiful “I wills” (Zeph 3:18, 19, 20) of what the
Lord will do for us (Ed: See following note - yes for
"us" but first for restored nation of Israel!).

Editorial Note:
Although the above paragraphs make spiritual application of
this passage to believers of the present age, remember that
the primary application is to the believing remnant
of Israel, which the Lord has promised to restore, according
to His unfailing love and the unconditional aspects of His
covenant with that nation, when in the Messianic Kingdom,
He is in the midst of them. These promises will be fulfilled ''at
that time'' (read Zeph 3:19,20; cp. Isa 11:12; 27:12; Eze
28:25; 34:13; 37:21-28; Amos 9:14; Zech 2:10,11; 8:3).

OT Reflections of Christ -
Zephaniah - Paul Van Gorder - Zephaniah prophesied
during the time of Josiah, a time of temporary revival. He saw
the dark clouds of apostasy and judgment creeping over the
horizon. The book of 2Kings 22:1-20, gives the historical
background of this period. Zephaniah has been called the
''compendium of prophecy.'' He saw the judgment that was soon
to fall upon Israel for her apostasy. Then, he looked down the
ages to the judgment of the whole earth. And beyond that, he
envisioned the time of universal blessing to follow. We read
one phrase repeatedly in Zephaniah's prophecy: ''The day of
the Lord.''

Habakkuk
stood high and looked far;
Zephaniah stooped low with the candle of searching and looked
closely.

OUTLINE
OF THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH

Zeph 1:1- 2:3
The Day of the Lord

The prophet
describes the day of God's wrath, which will be fulfilled in
the coming invasion and captivity of Israel. It foreshadows
the final day of the Lord.

Zeph 2:4-15
Judgment upon the Nations

The prophet
predicts an outpouring of God's wrath upon certain peoples and
nations. Read the history books and you will find that these
have been fulfilled in minute detail.

Zeph 3:1-7 -
Israel's Sinfulness

The terrible moral
state of Israel is described. This is what called for and
justified the judgment that was about to fall.

Zeph 3:8-20 -
The Kingdom Described

This passage
presents an interesting glimpse of the millennial period and
the blessings Israel will experience during that time.

Zephaniah
Chapter and Verse - Hold pointer over link
New American Standard Bible
Click on a verse to go to verse in context

Bible.org
ResourcesResources that
Reference Zephaniah
on the largest Bible Study Resource on the WebHint: Do a "control +
find" when you open a "hit" and search Zeph as well as the full name.
This may take some practice but is guaranteed to yield some "gems"!RecommendedConservative, Literal Interpretation

Note:
First, the good news - Calvin's prayers are excellent, and are very
convicting - Suggestion: Read them aloud, very slowly and as a sincere prayer to the
Almighty God.
On the other hand the careful Berean (Acts 17:11-note)
should be cautious when reading Calvin's comments, for he sometimes
interprets passages that in contextclearly
relate to the literal
nation of Israel as if they were addressed directly to the NT Church.
Furthermore, he makes no mention of a future literal earthly Millennial Reign
of Messiah as described in passages like Zephaniah 3:14, 15 about
which Calvin comments "thus then our Prophet now says, that God will
be in the midst of His Church". Commenting on Zeph 3:14, 15
John MacArthur writes "The messianic era of millennial blessing and
restoration is described." (The
MacArthur Study Bible)
John Hannah agrees adding that "Israel will be joyful in that millennial
day because she will have been redeemed by God. Though the immediate
prospect for the nation was one of sorrow and torment (Zeph 3:1, 5, 6,
7), a day will come when the remnant's
fears will give way to shouts of praise." (Bible
Knowledge Commentary).
Contrast commentaries such as the one by Dr McGee (listen to his
commentary on Zeph 3:13 Commentary
and Zeph 3:14-20).
(See
disclaimer)

Note: JFB is one
of the more literal, conservative older commentaries (prior to
1900). Sample excerpt of eschatological (prophetic, apocalyptic)
passage Zechariah 14:2 - "gather all nations, etc. — The
prophecy seems literal (compare Joel 3:2). If Antichrist be the
leader of the nations, it seems inconsistent with the statement that
he will at this time be sitting in the temple as God at Jerusalem
(2Thessalonians 2:4); thus Antichrist outside would be made to
besiege Antichrist within the city. But difficulties do not set
aside revelations: the event will clear up seeming difficulties (Ed:
Interesting statement!). Compare the complicated movements, Daniel
11:1-45-note." Comment on Zech 14:11 - "no more utter destruction
— (Jer 31:40). Literally, “no more curse” (Rev 22:3-note; compare Malachi
4:6-note), for there will be no more sin. Temporal blessings and
spiritual prosperity shall go together in the millennium: long life
(Isaiah 65:20-22), peace (Isaiah 2:4-note), honor (Isaiah 60:14-16),
righteous government (Isaiah 54:14; Isaiah 60:18). (Zechariah
14 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible)

Enter Query below
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Search by book You can also search by chapter like: John 1 or
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James 1:2 or Hebrews 1:1-3,6; 5:4

James Montgomery Boice -
conservative, literal, futuristic - excellent for preachingRosscupcomments:
The large, two-column pages contain much good material on the
relevance of the words for then and for now, dealing with such topics
as love, repentance, and sincerity (Hosea 6). A prolonged
contemplation of these pages and an application of their principles
will produce substantial Christian growth. The author could improve
the work by being more definite sometimes in specifying in what
framework God will bless Israel in the future (e.g., Hosea 14).
Vagueness such as in Joel 2:1-11, where he says the invader is neither
locusts nor a human army, is a drawback. Wordiness and wandering in
his discussions is another shortcoming, as in using Joel 2:28 to take
off into a long discussion of clericalism. He finds fulfillment of
Joel 2:28 at Pentecost, yet it would help to point out some aspects
that were (Rosscup)

Exploring the Minor Prophets John Phillips
- Rosscup on John
Phillips - A respected popular expositor on a number of biblical
books here has two introductory chapters, then a chapter of about
20–30 pp. on each prophet (50 on Zech.). Several charts aid readers,
and a detailed outline runs before each exposition. The exposition is
in general surveys of sections, at times taking a view on a main
problem. In Hosea 1:2, he feels that God had Hosea marry an immoral
woman but Phillips offers no help on the moral issue. Phillips is
premillennial, seeing Israel’s future kingdom blessings as in the
Millenniumafter Christ’s Second Coming (Hosea 3:5; Joel 3:14ff; Amos
9:15; Zeph. 3:9ff; Zech 2:10–13; 14:1–21). In Mal. 2:15 he has “one”
refer to God making husband and wife into one, and in Mal 4:5 he thinks
the Elijah will be fulfilled in one of the two witnesses in Rev 11:3-13-note.
The work helps on broad coverage, and is quite readable for preachers,
church teachers, students and lay people wanting a general devotional
sweep. (Ibid)

Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk and
Obadiah - Outline StudyExample Excerpt:
I cannot refrain from calling attention very particularly to the
promises for the future as contained in Zeph 3:8-20, and which show
that although these Minor Prophets, so-called, refer but briefly to
that period, (and yet perhaps in proportion after all, to the length
of their discourses), still their deliverances thereupon are
all in harmony with the teachings of the whole school of the
prophets. For example, in Zeph 3:8, observe the agreement with Joel
concerning the gathering of the Gentile nations to judgment at
the end of the present age ("in those days...at that time" - Joel
3:1, 2). In Zeph 3:9, we seem to see these nations (Ed:
Gentiles), or the spared and sifted remnant of them, at length
converted to GOD and serving Him with a ready will. In Zeph 3:10
they are bringing the sons of Israel back to their own land, the
second gathering of them, so to speak, as was explained in Isaiah
(Isa 11:11-note).
In Zeph 3:11-18, the cleansed, humble, trustful, rejoicing, nation
of Israel appears, dwelling in their own land. In Zeph 3:19, 20 we
find the restored and beloved people a praise and a blessing in the
whole earth as foretold in the original promise to Abraham, and
again and again pictured before us in the millennial Psalms. Zeph
3:17 of this chapter will well repay careful meditation.
The old marriage covenant (cf "My covenant which they broke,
although I was a husband to them" = Jer 31:31-32) between the Lord
and Israel is there depicted as gloriously restored anew (Isaiah
62:5; Hosea 2:19); the husband is rejoicing in His wife (Ed: Israel
in belief - cf Ro 11:25-29-note),
resting in His love and joying over her with singing. The word for
"rest" (charash
= 02790)
is translated in the margin "be silent," and this silence of the
Lord towards His people (Israel) is no longer the silence arising
from forbearance in order to punish at last (Psalm 50:21-note),
but because He has nothing more to reprehend.

James Gray

Zephaniah - Overview - Summary
section by section, charts-recommendedExample Excerpt:
We have mentioned this several times in our study of the prophets,
but I will point it out in case someone has not heard the
explanation. Several of the things Zephaniah says will happen, could
have been fulfilled by the Babylonians when they destroyed Judah and
took them into captivity. But many of the prophecies concerning the
destruction of the nations and the earth have obviously not been
fulfilled. This is where it helps to understand what the prophet saw
in his visions.

RESTORATION OF THE GENTILES (Zeph 3:9-10) -The
word “Peoples” refers to the Gentiles. The “purified lips” may be a
reference to a reversal of the curse at the tower of Babel. Or an
allusion to Isaiah’s unclean lips in Isaiah 6:5-note.
In “that day” God will bless the Gentiles who turn to Him. “All the
people” will call on the name of the Lord in that day. Have we
reached that day yet? Obviously not. Over and over again we have
seen that Gentiles would be saved and included in the kingdom of
God. It shows how far off the religious leader’s of Jesus’ day were
in their practice of Judaism. RESTORATION OF THE JEWS (Zeph 3:11-20)
God will also bless the Jews and bring the remnantback to Jerusalem
(My holy mountain). And there will be justice and peace in the land
(Zeph 3:11-13). There will be no shame either. This was the same
thing promised in Joel 2:26,27. Again, it is obvious that this has
not happened. There will be rejoicing in the future kingdom, for God
will be reigning in their midst and the nations will praise and
honor Israel as God's people (Zeph 3:14-18,19, 20).

Hampton Keathley IV

Holman Christian Standard Bible - Study Notes- Enter Scripture. The HCSB Study Bible notes
are well done and can be accessed in the right panel entitled "STUDY
BIBLE NOTES TOOL". Select "Study Bible Notes". To read all the notes
on a given chapter click "READ" tab. Very nice!

Hint:
Be sure and check the brief (5-15') pithy, practical videos by Dr
Gene Getz which present powerful principles for life
application! Instructions: Click Holman Christian Standard Bible.
Type in the Scripture and click Video Player Tool in right column
for Dr Getz's practical points related to that Scripture.

Prediction of future
restoration and blessing for Israel, Zeph 3:3, 7-20. The future
according to Zephaniah. - This brief prophecy is full, as are all
the other prophets. After the frightful picture of wrath which he so
vividly draws, he changes to a sweet and triumphant theme, a song of
gladness and of victory in which the glory of Zion, favor to the
Lord’s people, God’s delight in His redeemed, the holiness and
devotedness of the restored Israel are set forth in rapturous
strains. He closes with a vision of hope and joy and peace. And so
Zephaniah is apocalyptic and
telesmatic. “The Lord
thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will
rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love; He will joy
over thee with singing,” Zeph 3:17. Redeemer and Redeemed.

I. The Redeemer.

1. He is mighty to save.
2. He exults over His redeemed.
3. He is silent in His love—finds no fault with them.

II. The Redeemed.

1. They are finally and
forever delivered.
2. They are exalted.
3. They are forgiven.
4. They are made perfect.
5. They are happy for ever.

Rosscup says
"This is an outstanding conservative, detailed work backed by
scholarly awareness and expertise. Comments reflect fine-tuned
ability in the Hebrew text, philology, exegesis, history, and
literature. Patterson has premillennial convictions in the final
verses of Zephaniah. He shows the shaky reasoning of critical
arguments against the unity of Nahum, and defends unity of Nahum and
Habakkuk. In a long Excursus he defends New Testament uses of
Habakkuk 2:4 (pp. 21–23), But some will doubt that he captures the
significance of the picture of a hind in Habakkuk 3:19 when he sees
only swiftness ascending and gracefully gliding (262–63). But in
most details he is excellent, and the work is well worth the cost
and time. (Commentaries
for Biblical Expositors: An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Works)

Recommended:
NETBible notes are in the right panel. You can also select the tab for
"Constable's Notes." As you scroll the Bible text in the left
panel, the notes are synchronized and will scroll to the same passage.
Also has a nice parallel Bible feature (see Tab = "Parallel"). Select
a different Bible translation (see Tab = "Bible"). Open Greek/Hebrew
tab. Mouse over shows corresponding English word and has short
definition at bottom of right panel.

James Rosscup writes "This
work originally appeared in 1860. The present publication is set up
in two columns to the page with the text of the Authorized Version
reproduced at the top. Scripture references, Hebrew words, and other
citations are relegated to the bottom of the page. The work is
detailed and analytical in nature. Introduction, background and
explanation of the Hebrew are quite helpful. Pusey holds to the
grammatical-historical type of interpretation until he gets
into sections dealing with the future of Israel, and here Israel
becomes the church in the amillennial vein." (Commentaries
for Biblical Expositors: An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Works)

Zephaniah 1:1The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah. - Zephaniah 1:1

TODAY IN THE WORD
Let’s start the year 2003 right: by fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ.
But don’t just begin this way–keep your eyes on Him throughout the
year with Today in the Word.

“Let Us Fix Our Eyes on Jesus”
will be the running theme throughout this year of devotionals. Topics
to come include “Images of Christ in Revelation,” the Sermon on the
Mount, and ? Corinthians: The Church of Jesus.” But Christ isn’t found
only in the New Testament, and that’s why we’re beginning the year
with Zephaniah and Zechariah. As we study these prophets’ messages in
their historical contexts, we’ll see that God had been promising a
Savior all along. Long before the manger in Bethlehem, His people were
eagerly awaiting and rejoicing in His coming and His redemption.

Zephaniah, whose name means “the Lord protects” or “the Lord
treasures,” was of royal birth, since the genealogy in verse 1 lists
him as the great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah. He prophesied during
the reign of King Josiah (see 2 Kings 22–23; 2 Chron. 34-35). Josiah
was the last godly king who reigned prior to the conquest and exile of
Judah.

As nobility, Zephaniah probably lived in Jerusalem, moving among and
ministering to powerful people in the king’s court. He worked
contemporaneously with Jeremiah, Nahum, and perhaps Habakkuk.

Based on the genealogy, Zephaniah was probably only in his 20s when he
began to prophesy in about 625 b.c. He started his ministry early in
Josiah’s reign, when the effects of the king’s evil predecessor still
dominated the religious life of Judah. In 621 b.c., priests working to
restore the Temple found a copy of the Law, which sparked a national
revival. In fact, it’s likely that Zephaniah’s preaching also helped
bring about this revival. (Today
in the Word. Moody Bible Institute. Used by Permission. All rights
reserved)

Zephaniah
1:2-13Be silent before the Sovereign
Lord, for the day of the Lord is near. - Zephaniah 1:7
TODAY IN THE WORD
One day, Jesus warned His listeners against greed and told this
parable: The lands of a certain rich man produced a fruitful harvest.
He decided to build new and bigger barns to hold his growing wealth,
and felt secure in his prosperity--with so much in the storehouses,
his worries were over. He said to himself, “You have plenty of good
things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be
merry.”

But because of his complacency
and self-centeredness, God’s judgment fell on that man that very
night. Jesus concluded: “This is how it will be with anyone who stores
up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:13-21).

Today’s reading also describes God’s judgment on sin, especially as it
will take place on the Day of the Lord (vv. 2-3, 7). Verses 2–3
overview His judgment at the end of history, and this serves as a
preview to what will happen to Judah in the near future. In the
metaphor in verse 7, Judah is the sacrificial victim, while the
invited guests are the armies of Babylon. God will “consecrate” this
pagan nation to accomplish His plan.

The pictures here promise the total destruction of evil. Not a single
trace of wickedness will be allowed to remain–it will all be swept
away, cut off, and punished. This is definitely a zero tolerance
policy! If it seems harsh, remember that God is utterly holy, yet has
shown remarkable patience through-out history.

“I
will cut off them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that
swear by Malcham.”
— Zephaniah 1:5

Such persons thought themselves safe because they were with both
parties: they went with the followers of Jehovah, and bowed at the
same time to Malcham. But duplicity is abominable with God, and
hypocrisy his soul hateth. The idolater who distinctly gives himself
to his false god, has one sin less than he who brings his polluted and
detestable sacrifice unto the temple of the Lord, while his heart is
with the world and the sins thereof. To hold with the hare and run
with the hounds, is a dastard’s policy. In the common matters of daily
life, a double- minded man is despised, but in religion he is
loathsome to the last degree. The penalty pronounced in the verse
before us is terrible, but it is well deserved; for how should divine
justice spare the sinner, who knows the right, approves it, and
professes to follow it, and all the while loves the evil, and gives it
dominion in his heart?

My soul, search thyself this morning, and see whether thou art guilty
of double-dealing. Thou professest to be a follower of Jesus—dost thou
truly love him? Is thy heart right with God? Art thou of the family of
old Father Honest, or art thou a relative of Mr. By-ends? A name to
live is of little value if I be indeed dead in trespasses and sins. To
have one foot on the land of truth, and another on the sea of
falsehood, will involve a terrible fall and a total ruin. Christ will
be all or nothing. God fills the whole universe, and hence there is no
room for another god; if, then, he reigns in my heart, there will be
no space for another reigning power. Do I rest alone on Jesus
crucified, and live alone for him? Is it my desire to do so? Is my
heart set upon so doing? If so, blessed be the mighty grace which has
led me to salvation; and if not so, O Lord, pardon my sad offence, and
unite my heart to fear thy name.

The state of things in the
chosen city was scandalous. The people worshipped the host of heaven
on the housetops; the temple-courts were filled with the priests of
idolatry; the court affected foreign dress and manners. Nothing could
prevent the invasion of the Chaldeans as ministers of the Divine
vengeance. These were the terrible guests whom the Almighty had
summoned to the feast; and the feast consisted of the spoils of the
city (Zephaniah 1:7).

No sin of his people can escape
the notice of God. He searches out the secret evils of our hearts with
lighted candles, not for his vision alone, but for ours; that we may
know, and abhor them, and put them from us. There is the candle of
conscience. The spirit of man is as the candle of the Lord. In some
men the candle is present, but not lit: in others it is lit by the
power of the Divine Spirit; and there is something of the incandescent
flame about it then.

There is the candle of outward
events. How often does God allow some incident of which we hear in
social conversation, or read in the newspaper, to cast a sudden and
unexpected light upon some passages in our lives which we have
carefully shrouded in darkness. Right into a hidden closet the
searchlight falls, saying “thou art the man.”

Then there is that candle of his
Holy Word. A text or sermon unkindled by the Spirit of God is like an
unlighted candle. But when God’s Holy Spirit rests on it, interfusing
it with fire, then how mighty is its effect! It searches the heart and
tries the reins; it reveals to man his thought and the real object of
his existence, that he may repent.

Seek the Lord, all you humble of
the land, you who do what he commands. - Zephaniah 2:3

TODAY IN THE WORD
Early in the 20th century, the city of St. Pierre, on the island of
Martinique in the Caribbean, was known as the “Paris of the West
Indies.” But it all came to a crashing halt on the morning of May 8,
1902.

On that morning, a volcano named
Mount Pelée erupted, sending hot ash, toxic gases, and magma down the
mountainside at terrific speeds. Within minutes, the entire city had
been destroyed, and 30,000 people had been killed. St. Pierre has
never been completely rebuilt, and today only a fraction of the
previous population currently lives there.

As deadly a disaster as this volcanic eruption was, it’s nothing
compared to what will happen on the Day of the Lord. In the Old
Testament, the phrase “day of the Lord” is often associated with
divine judgments. In Zephaniah, God’s judgments in both the immediate
and distant futures are linked as parts of His unified plan for
history. “The great day of the Lord is near–near and coming quickly,”
the prophet proclaimed (1:14).

The description of this “day” in today’s reading is poetically
miserable. It will be filled with bitterness, anguish, ruin, and fire.
Why will it occur? Because of sin (1:17). God’s justice and power will
completely purge and purify the land of evil. Since He is the one true
Lord, His “jealousy”–that is, His wrath against those who worship
false gods–is totally legitimate and His punishment appropriate, no
matter how extreme it sounds (1:18).

If the cause of judgment is sin, then the fitting response to
Zephaniah’s warnings is repentance. He exhorted the people to seek the
Lord, humble themselves, and pursue obedience (2:3). To repent means
to turn away from sin toward righteousness. As commentator Matthew
Henry said, Zephaniah’s purpose was “not to frighten them out of their
wits, but to frighten them out of their sins.” And apparently he
succeeded, since Josiah’s reforms delayed the short-term fulfillment
of this prophecy (2 Chron. 34:27-28).

TODAY ALONG THE WAY
In today’s passage, Zephaniah urged sinners to repent before it was
too late. That same message still applies today! Have you repented of
your sins and asked God to give you the gift of eternal life, found
only in Jesus Christ? This is a choice between life and death. If you
haven’t yet chosen life, listen to the apostle Peter: “Repent, then,
and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of
refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19). You can have the
assurance of everlasting life in the presence of God!
(Today
in the Word. Moody Bible Institute. Used by Permission. All rights
reserved)

The great day of the Lord is ...a day of trouble and distress.-
Zephaniah 1:14-15

Turmoil continues to seethe in many parts of the former Soviet Union.
Unrest, revolt, hunger, unemployment, and severe shortages still
plague most of the land. It prompted a leading Russian journalist to
refer to these days as smut- noye vremya, the "time of trouble."

The Bible uses a similar phrase to describe the events of the
endtimes. They will occur during the prophetic era called "the day of
the Lord" (Isaiah 2:12-22). It will be a time of terrible tribulation,
during which mankind will suffer as never before. There will be
earthquakes, famine, war, and death (Rev. 6).

During this period, the Jews will be singled out. Their persecution
will be so intense that the era is prophetically referred to in
Jeremiah 30:7 as "the time of Jacob's trouble." But that verse ends
with the wonderful promise that the Jews "shall be saved out of it."
That period of intense tribulation will bring them to faith in the
true Messiah.

It may be ye shall be hid in the
day of the Lord’s anger. Zephaniah 2:3

The name of this prophet means,
“Whom God hides or protects.” The hidden man invites others to his
hiding-place; and shows how we may be hidden in the day of God’s
anger. It is said that in the center of the wildest cyclone there is a
point of absolute calm: so amid the wildest storms that have swept the
face of the world there have always been some of God’s hidden ones:—

“I cannot deny,” writes
Tersteegen, “the corruptions of the external Church; but I think my
dear friend has more necessary things to attend to. Within! Within!
With God alone!” There is truth here, though not all the truth. We
must have Elijahs as well as Zephaniahs.

Only those may know the hidden
life who fulfill the conditions here described. They must be meek;
they must work his judgment; they must seek righteousness and
meekness. It is the soul that bends before the blast of the terrible
ones; that gives place to wrath, not because of pusillanimity, but
because of the fear of the Lord; that hands over its cause of alarm
and fear to the Most High, which abides in his secret place, and hides
under his shadow.

Let us seek these things, and
then there will be no may-be in our being hidden. We shall certainly
be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger; hidden in the wounds of
Jesus, hidden in his heart, hidden in God with Christ, hidden in the
fiery glory of his intolerable holiness.

Rock of Ages,
cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee!

Zephaniah
2:4-15Then men will say, “Surely the
righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the
earth.” - Psalm 58:11
TODAY IN THE WORD
The Day of the Lord will find unbelievers unprepared and insecure,
even if they live in San Jose, California.

Following the World Trade Center
attacks on September 11, 2001, San Jose gained national recognition as
the American city best prepared for terrorist threats, including
nuclear, biological, and chemical assaults. The city has prepared its
emergency personnel, stockpiled antibiotics and other medical
supplies, and trained a thousand ordinary citizens in civil defense.
“National defense is local defense,” said one leader.

On the Day of the Lord, it will be not physical preparedness but
spiritual preparedness that determines life and death. Those who stand
in their own strength will fall.

Today’s reading gives more images of judgment, this time specific
judgments on the Gentile nations surrounding Israel. Their cities will
be abandoned, ruined, uprooted, and destroyed. Once-bustling places
will become open fields or wastelands; they will share the destiny of
Sodom and Gomorrah. As with those two cities, and as we’ve already
seen in Zephaniah, the cause of judgment was sin. All of these nations
were guilty of disrespect for God’s people, aggression toward them,
pride, and idolatry (plus influencing Israel toward idolatry).

Through judgment, God will demonstrate His superiority to all idols,
and will receive His rightful worship (v. 11). One hint that the
worship will be universal is found in the fact that the passage moves
geographically, from west (Philistia) to east (Moab and Ammon) to
south (Cush/Ethiopia) to north (Assyria usually attacked from this
direction). He is the God and Judge of all the earth, not just of one
region or nation!

TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Today, we suggest that you examine your heart for the kind of
self-exalting pride for which Assyria was condemned in Scripture (v.
15). Do you base your security on your own abilities or success? Do
your words and actions show arrogance? Have you put yourself at the
center of your own universe? Does God have a minimal impact on your
priorities and decisions (Today
in the Word. Moody Bible Institute. Used by Permission. All rights
reserved)

Zephaniah
3:1-8The Lord within her is
righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his
justice. - Zephaniah 3:5

TODAY IN THE WORD
Pilgrim William Bradford recounted the story of a sailor on board the
Mayflower: He was “proud and very profane,” and often ridiculed the
colonists about their seasickness. He even went so far as to say he
hoped to bury half of them at sea, then to “make merry with what they
had.” He swore at those who reproved him.

“But it pleased God before they
came half seas over, to smite this young man with a grievous disease,
of which he died in a desperate manner, and so was himself the first
that was thrown overboard. Thus his curses [fell] on his own head, and
it was an astonishment to all his fellows for they noted it to be the
just hand of God upon him.”

In today’s reading, the justice of God is contrasted to the corruption
of Jerusalem. In Zephaniah, we’ve moved from judgment in general to
judgment on Gentile nations to judgment on Judah. Wickedness is
wickedness wherever and whenever it’s found, and God responds to it in
the same way, no exceptions.

What were Jerusalem’s sins? Oppression, tyranny, rebelliousness toward
God, pride, idolatry, and a general lack of faith. The people didn’t
draw near to their God (vv. 1–2). The leaders in particular were
targeted for condemnation for their role in leading the nation astray
(vv. 3–4).

Given their behavior, did Judah really think they could escape the
same fate as the other sinful nations? The northern kingdom of Israel
had already been taken into captivity by Assyria, and Zephaniah had
proclaimed the doom of their Gentile neighbors. After these historical
and prophetic warnings, one would think that they would be anxious to
repent, but in fact “they were still eager to act corruptly in all
they did” (v. 7).

Zephaniah
3:9-13Then will I purify the lips of
the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and
serve him shoulder to shoulder. - Zephaniah 3:9

TODAY IN THE WORD
The perspective of the biblical prophets has often been compared to a
person looking at a distant mountain range. From his perspective, the
majestic peaks soar upward, one after the other in quick succession.
The mountains appear quite close to one another. In fact, though,
there may be plains and valleys between them that aren’t visible from
his perspective.

The prophets spoke of “mountain
peak” events, and from their point of view, these events appeared
quite close to one another. In fact, though, there are intervening
times during which God is continuing to work out more hidden
dimensions of His plan.

One implication of this is that sometimes a prophet foretold events as
if they would happen at nearly the same time. But one part of the
event might have happened a long time ago, while another part is still
future--for example, the First and Second Comings of Christ. These are
interpretive differences that we’ll often find while studying
Zephaniah and Zechariah.

In today’s reading, for example, God promised to purify and redeem His
people, and this prophecy has both near and distant time implications.
In the near future, He would bless a remnant who would return from the
Exile to their homeland. But the entire prophecy wasn’t fulfilled at
that time, and so in part it also refers to the future reign of Christ
over all the world. What did God promise to do? To purify the people
from sin--to completely remove it from Jerusalem. Pride will not be
found in God’s domain, as haughty people will already have been judged
and expelled. The meek will inherit the earth (v. 12; cf. Matt. 5:5).

God will enable His people to worship and serve Him as they ought.
Their righteous actions will reflect His character--they’ll do no
wrong, just as He does no wrong (vv. 5, 13). And since He Himself will
dwell with them, they’ll live in perfect security (cf. Micah 4:1–4).

“I will also leave in the midst
of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name
of the Lord.”—Zephaniah 3:12

WHEN true religion is ready to
die out among the wealthy it finds a home among the poor of this
world, rich in faith. The Lord has even now His faithful remnant. Am I
one of them?

Perhaps it is because men are
afflicted and poor that they learn to trust in the name of the Lord.
He that hath no money must try what he can do on trust. He whose own
name is good for nothing in his own esteem, acts wisely to rest in
another name, even that best of names, the name of Jehovah. God will
always have a trusting people, and these will be an afflicted and poor
people. Little as the world thinks of them, their being left in the
midst of a nation is the channel of untold blessings to it. Here we
have the conserving salt which keeps in check the corruption which is
in the world through lust.

Again the question comes home to
each one of us: am I one of them? Am I afflicted by the sin within me
and around me? Am I poor in spirit, poor spiritually in my own
judgment? Do I trust in the Lord? That is the main business. Jesus
reveals the name, the character, the person of God: am I trusting in
Him? If so, I am left in this world for a purpose. Lord, help me to
fulfill it.

“They shall feed and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid.”—Zephaniah 3:13

YESTERDAY we thought of the
afflicted and poor people whom the Lord left to be a living seed in a
dead world. The prophet says of such that they shall not work iniquity
nor speak lies. So that while they had neither rank nor riches to
guard them, they were also quite unable to use those weapons in which
the wicked place so much reliance: they could neither defend
themselves by sin nor by subtlety.

What then? Would they be
destroyed? By no means! They should both feed and rest, and be not
merely free from danger, but even quiet from fear of evil. Sheep are
very feeble creatures, and wolves are terrible enemies; yet at this
hour, sheep are more numerous than wolves, and the cause of the sheep
is always winning, while the cause of the wolves is always declining.
One day flocks of sheep will cover the plains, and not a wolf will be
left. The fact is that sheep have a shepherd, and this gives them
provender, protection, and peace. “None,” which means not one,
whether in human or diabolical form, “shall make them afraid.” Who
shall terrify the Lord’s flock when He is near? We lie down in green
pastures, for Jesus Himself is food and rest to our souls.

He will take great delight in
you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with
singing. - Zephaniah 3:17

TODAY IN THE WORD
Ethelda Bleibtrey, the first woman ever to win a gold medal for the
United States in the Olympics, was quite an unlikely hero.

Affected by polio as a child,
Bleibtrey took up swimming to help her overcome the effects of her
illness. By the time women’s swimming was added to the 1920 Olympic
program, she held the world record in the 100-yard backstroke.
Unfortunately, only three events were scheduled, and her specialty
wasn’t one of them. She entered the races anyway--and won three gold
medals! In fact, she won every race in which she swam between 1920 and
1922.

Victory brings gladness and joy. On the Day of the Lord, God’s triumph
will spur praise from His people. Today’s verses are actually the
second and third stanzas of a prophetic oracle begun in yesterday’s
reading. Now that we understand that the Day of the Lord is a day of
redemption (not only wrath or judgment), the natural conclusion to the
book of Zephaniah is praise.

In fact, praise is the primary responsibility of God’s people. When
God does what He has promised for Israel, they are to sing, be glad,
rejoice, and fearlessly trust in Him. The same principle holds true
for us--when God does what He promises, we praise His name and trust
Him to guarantee the future.

In an immediate sense, we see in Scripture how some of these words
were fulfilled when God brought a remnant back from Exile. In a future
sense, we know He’ll still keep these promises to Israel during the
glorious reign of Christ. Since the prophecy and encouragement flows
from God’s character, all believers can rejoice in these words of
hope.

Zephaniah 3:17 Judges
4:17-22; 5:24-31
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. - Zephaniah 3:17
TODAY IN THE WORD
On February 21, 1980, New York Times columnist Dave Anderson wrote,
“Unless the ice melts, or unless the United States team or another
team performs a miracle . . . the Russians are expected to easily win
the Olympic gold medal for the sixth time in the last seven
tournaments.” On February 22, 1980, the U.S. Olympic hockey
team—comprised mainly of college students—defeated the mighty Soviet
hockey juggernaut. As sportscaster Al Michaels called the final
seconds of the game, he exclaimed, “Do you believe in miracles? YES!”

If Dave Anderson had been writing about the chances for Israel to
defeat Sisera, he probably would have described it as an easy win for
the Canaanites. And if Al Michaels were calling the play-by-play on
the battle, he might have declared Israel’s victory a miracle.
Scripture notes the great power and military prowess of Sisera (4:3).
But this oppressive general wasn’t slaughtered on the field of battle
or overpowered in a duel with another soldier. God had a far more
deliciously poetic justice in store.

As Sisera’s army was routed by Barak, he fled on foot to the tent of
Jael, the wife of a nomad who had a friendly relationship with the
Canaanite king. She offered him milk and then delivered a mallet,
driving a tent peg through his skull. Sisera’s death was God’s
judgment for his tyranny over Israel; the means of Sisera’s death was
God’s judgment on Barak for his lack of faith (4:9).

Deborah’s song of victory and praise to the Lord highlights the irony
of Sisera’s demise. As his mother waited for the “clatter of his
chariots,” the symbols of his brutality, her servants assured her that
he was likely delayed by enjoying the spoils of victory and ravishing
the women (vv. 28-30). But in fact, Sisera was destroyed by a woman
who spoiled his victory. The dramatic downfall of Sisera revealed the
miracle of God’s deliverance. He rescued His people, and He used
surprising means to do it. He is a God who works miracles.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Do you feel overwhelmed by the challenges facing you? Perhaps
temptation seems too strong to resist, or a long season of suffering
feels like it will never end. You might endure opposition from
colleagues or loved ones or face obstacles that threaten to smother
your joy in Christ. God has not changed—He still works miracles on
behalf of His people. He still defeats mighty strongholds of sin and
oppression. He tells us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power
is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 4:9; see 1 Cor. 1:26-31).

The documentary film Young@Heart
gives a rollicking look at a senior chorus of 24 singers whose average
age is 80. Filled with humor and poignant moments, the film includes
this remarkable singing group’s deeply moving performance at a New
England prison. When the concert concludes, the singers walk into the
audience, greeting the surprised prisoners with handshakes and hugs.

The inmates’ unexpected amazement at this personal touch reminds me of
the book of Zephaniah in which the prophet brings a powerful message
of God’s presence and love to His people during a dark time: “The Lord
your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice
over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will
rejoice over you with singing” (Zeph 3:17).

According to Bible teacher Henrietta Mears, Zephaniah “begins with
sorrow but ends with singing. The first of the book is full of sadness
and gloom, but the last contains one of the sweetest songs of love in
the Old Testament.”

God’s love for us is always astonishing, especially when it touches us
at a low ebb of life. During our darkest times, the Lord comes to us
with His joy, His love, and His song.

If your heart is filled with sadness,
Or you struggle with despair,
Turn to God, who’ll bring you gladness
When you sense His love and care. —Sper

WHAT a casting out was that!
Satan has lost his throne in our nature even as he lost his seat in
heaven. Our Lord Jesus has destroyed the enemy’s reigning power over
us. He may worry us, but he cannot claim us as his own. His bonds are
no longer upon our spirits: the Son has made us free, and we are free
indeed.

Still is the arch-enemy the
accuser of the brethren, but even from this position our Lord has
driven him. Our advocate silences our accuser. The Lord rebukes our
enemies and pleads the causes of our soul, so that no harm comes of
all the devil’s revilings.

As a tempter, the evil spirit
still assails us and insinuates himself into our minds, but thence
also is he cast out as to his former preeminence. He wriggles about
like a serpent, but he cannot rule like a sovereign. He hurls in
blasphemous thoughts when he has opportunity, but what a relief it is
when he is told to be quiet and is made to slink off like a whipped
cur! Lord, do this for any who are at this time worried and wearied by
his barkings. Cast out their enemy, and be thou glorious in their
eyes. Thou hast cast him down; Lord cast him out. Oh, that thou
wouldst banish him from the world!.

The Lord thy God is in the midst
of thee, a Mighty One who will save. (r.v.) Zephaniah 3:17

If this announcement is compared
with the foregoing verse, it becomes apparent that only those may take
its blessed comfort who have made the Lord their King. It is when the
Lord, the King of Israel, is in the midst that we cease to fear the
incursion of evil. Entire surrender and consecration must precede that
deliverance from the power of evil which we all desire in our holiest
hours.

O tempted one, who fearest every
hour because of the fury of the foe, that seems only waiting to
destroy, look no longer upon him, but behold thy glorious Lord. “He
will save.” Dare to repeat those words again and again, as a sweet
refrain. Dare to believe that the battle is not yours, but his. Fear
not; nor let thine hands be slack! Do thy work in the world, and let
God keep thee.

But God will do more than save
the yielded trusting one. He will rejoice over the soul that finds its
all in Himself. Such exquisite satisfaction will fill his glorious
nature, that it shall be as when the heart can no longer contain
itself, and wells over with liquid music. It is much to hear a
nightingale sing; more to hear an angel; more to hear some child of
Adam redeemed from sin sing the new song: but most to hear the great
God break out into song. So a mother sings over her babe. O my God,
may my life give Thee joy; not grief, nor tears, but a song.

But He does not always express
Himself thus. He is sometimes “silent in his love.” At such times He
does not speak or sing, but broods over the soul that has dared to
trust Him. “He will rest in his love.” There are times when the heart
is too full of blessedness to speak—it has learned to abide in the
secret place. An ocean too full to permit of waves!

“The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he
will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”—Zephaniah
3:17

WHAT a word is this! Jehovah God
in the center of His people in all the majesty of His power! This
presence alone suffices to inspire us with peace and hope. Treasures
of boundless might are stored in our Jehovah, and He dwells in His
church; therefore may His people shout for joy.

We not only have His presence,
but He is engaged upon His choice work of salvation. “He will save.”
He is always saving: He takes His name of Jesus from it. Let us not
fear any danger for He is mighty to save.

Nor is this all. He abides
evermore the same; He loves, He finds rest in loving, and He will not
cease to love. His love gives Him joy. He even finds a theme for song
in His beloved. This is exceedingly wonderful. When God wrought
creation He did not sing, but simply said, “It is very good.” But
when He came to redemption, then the sacred Trinity felt a joy to be
expressed in song. Think of it and be astonished! Jehovah Jesus sings
a marriage song over His chosen bride. She is to Him His love, His
joy, His rest, His song. O Lord Jesus, by thine immeasurable love to
us, teach us to love thee, to rejoice in thee, and to sing unto thee
our Life-psalm.

THERE are plenty of these lame
ones, both male and female. You may meet “her that halteth” twenty
times in an hour. They are in the right road, and exceedingly anxious
to run in it with diligence; but they are lame, and make a sorry walk
of it. On the heavenly road there are many cripples. It may be that
they say in their hearts, what will become of us? Sin will overtake
us. Satan will throw us down. Ready-to-halt is our name and our
nature; the Lord can never make good soldiers of us, nor even nimble
messengers to go on His errands. Well, well! He will save us, and that
is no small thing. He says, “I will save her that halteth.” In
saving us, He will greatly glorify Himself. Everybody will ask how
came this lame woman to run the race and win the crown? And then the
praise will all be given to almighty grace.

Lord, though I halt in faith, in
prayer, in praise, in service, and in patience, save me, I beseech
thee! Only thou canst save such a cripple as I am. Lord, let me not
perish because I am among the hindmost, but gather up by thy grace the
slowest of thy pilgrims, even me. Behold He hath said that it shall be
so. Therefore, like Jacob, prevailing in prayer, I go forward though
my sinew be shrunk.

Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of
the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek
meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. —
Zephaniah 2:3

THERE is a "may be" about all
temporal things; and in pleading for them we ask with much diffidence.

Yet we may plead confidently when our appeal is made to God in the day
of his anger. Then our need is pressing: it is for our life that we
are pleading, and the Lord is very gracious in our extremities.

In spiritual things we may draw encouragement from the faintest sign
of hope when it proceeds from God: "it may be ye shall be hid."

The seeking for refuge, here commanded, is directed only to the meek
and righteous; but it is our joy to proclaim a hiding place for the
guilty, and to bid them seek the Lord even on the least encouragement.

The three seekings commanded are—

"Seek the Lord"; or, repent and
trust in Jehovah.

"Seek righteousness." Directed as it is in the text to those who are
already righteous, it bids them persevere in righteousness.

"Seek meekness." Spoken to the meek, it bids them bow even more humbly
before the chastening hand of God.

But our point is this: that we
may seek the Lord upon the faintest encouragement. There are strong
inducements and large promises; but if we cannot grasp these we may
come even with a "may be."

I. IN MANY A RECORDED INSTANCE "MAY BE" HAS PROMPTED AND JUSTIFIED
A RIGHT ACTION.

From the cases which we will mention lessons may be learned.

1. A "may be" led Jonathan to attack the garrison of the Philistines
(1 Sam. 14:6)."It may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is
no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few." This should nerve
saints for holy enterprises.

2. A "may be" Cheered David when Absalom rebelled, and Shimei cursed
(2 Sam. 16:12). "It maybe that the Lord will look on mine affliction."
Let us hope in God in our darkest hours.

3. A "may be" induced the lepers to visit the Syrian camp (2 Kings
7:4). Their desperate venture should be laid to heart by those who are
in like condition. They can but perish in any case; let them seek the
Lord, and try whether he does not save.

4. A "may be," diluted with an "if so be," moved the afflicted to
humble himself. See Jeremiah's Lamentations 3:29. Let no tried soul
refuse the like hope.

5. A "may be," in the form of "Who can tell?" brought all Nineveh to
repentance (Jon. 3:9).

If others have acted so vigorously upon such slender encouragement,
may not we, when dreading the ruin of our souls, act with like
decision and hopefulness? If we fly to Jesus by childlike faith, there
is more than a "may be" that the result will be happy.

II. IN THE INSTANCE OF A SINCERE SEEKER THE "MAY BE" HAS UNUSUAL
STRENGTH.

There is every probability of the penitent obtaining salvation if we—

1. Consider the gracious nature of our God (Mic. 7:18).

2. Consider the glorious work of
Christ for sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).

3. Consider the mercy they have
already received. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not
consumed (Lam. 3:22). 4. Consider the number and character of those
who have been saved. (Rev. 5:9; 7:9; 1 Cor. 6:11).

5. Consider the omnipotence of
the Holy Spirit (John 3:8).

6. Consider the glory which is
to be the Lord's at the last: surely it will come by saving souls, and
saving many of them.

III. BUT IN THE SEEKERS CASE HE HAS FAR MORE TO GO UPON THAN A MERE
"MAY BE."

There are innumerable sure promises in the Word of God, and these are
made to:

Repentance (Prov. 28:13; Isa.
55:7).

Faith (Mark 16:16; John 3:18; Acts 16:31).

Prayer (Matt. 7:7; Acts 2:21).

Let these promises be studied,
and their encouragement accepted by immediate compliance with their
requirements.

Consider that God foresaw all
events when he made these promises, and accordingly he has not made
them in error.

Consider that he cannot withdraw his promise.

Consider that he is the same as when he made the promise, and so in
effect makes it again every day.

Consider that it will be a crime to doubt the Lord our God, and an act
of reverence to believe him. Venture now upon the bare promise of God,
who cannot lie (Titus 1:2).
O sinner, seek the Lord!

He comes to you in Christ Jesus.
Look to him at once, and live.

Cheering Words

Possibly ye may be hid from
punishment, probably ye shall escape sorrow: but pardon of sin ye
shall be sure of; mitigation also o£ sorrow, if not prevention of it.
Saved ye shall be, or more gently handled, or so inwardly calmed, that
ye shall be able to call your souls to rest when others are at their
wits' ends. You shall be safe under the cover of God's wings, and in
the hollow of his hand; when others, that are without God in the
world, shall be as a naked man in a storm, as an unarmed man in the
field of battle, or as a ship at sea without an anchor, subject to
dash and split against rocks and quicksands. — Trapp

Dr. John Duncan was once heard thus addressing a beggar-woman in
Edinburgh — "Now, you'll promise me that you'll seek: but mind,
seeking will not save you, yet it is your duty; and it: you seek
you'll find, and finding will save you."

Our hope is not hung upon such untwisted thread as "I imagine so", or,
"it is likely"; but the cable, the strong rope of our fastened anchor
is the oath and promise of him who is eternal verity; our salvation is
fastened with God's own hand, and Christ's own strength, to the strong
stake of God's unchanging nature. — Rutherford

How long a beggar will wait, and how eagerly he will plead, although
he has no promise of an alms, but only the bare chance of winning a
penny from a passer-by! How laboriously will fishers cast their nets
again and again, though nothing has been taken as yet, and their only
encouragement is the possibility that fish may come that way! How
desperately will men dive into the sea with the expectation of finding
pearls in oyster-shells, encountering fierce monsters of the deep with
the uncertain hope of being enriched! And will not men draw near to
God when their outlook is so much more bright, their expectation so
much more justifiable.? As for me, I will lay down my sick soul at
Christ's feet, in sure and certain belief that he will heal me, and
then I will follow him whithersoever he goeth, in calm assurance that
he will lead me to his eternal kingdom and glory. — C H. S.

She obeyed not the voice; she
received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not
near to her God.— Zephaniah 3:2

WHEN the Lord is judging men he does not spare those who are called
his people: Moab and Ammon and Nineveh are visited, and Jerusalem is
not spared.

There are sins which outsiders cannot commit, such as those of the
text. When peculiar privileges only create peculiar sins, they will be
followed by peculiar punishments.

The offenses mentioned in this verse are to be found in nations,
churches, and individuals unto this day: and in a measure among God's
own people.

I. IN THE TEXT WE PERCEIVE FOUR MANIFEST SINS.

1. We will make upon them, as a whole, four observations.

Sins of omission are sure to exist
where there are sins of commission. Jerusalem is said to be "filthy
and polluted," and then these omissions are recited.

Sins of omission rank with the blackest of offenses. Consider the
context, and see with what fearful crimes omissions are catalogued, as
if to mark their vileness.

Sins of omission go in clusters. "She obeyed not." "She received not
instruction." "She trusted not." "She drew not near to her God." How
many foul birds may dwell in one nest! One sin never goes alone.

Sins of omission are none the less when they are mainly spiritual.
Such are those mentioned in the text, and they are cited among crimes
of deepest dye.

2. We will note each one of the
four separately.

They heard God speak, but they took
no heed. This included rebellion, hardness of heart, presumption, and
defiance of the Lord; and all this after solemn warnings, great
instruction, and tender invitation.

They felt correction, but were not instructed. This involved greater
persistence in rebellion, and still more obduracy of heart.

They were unbelieving and distrustful, and relied upon idols, and not
upon the Lord. Unbelief is a master-sin.

They had no communion with their God. "Her God" implies existence of
covenant-relationship, in name at least; but there was no worship,
love, or service.

These four sins abound around
us, and among us.

Inattention, Obstinacy, Unbelief, and Aversion to God are all common.

They involve men in misery in this life, and in eternal ruin in the
world to come. Are they not destroying some of you?

II. IN THE TEXT WE SPY OUT FOUR HIDDEN ENCOURAGEMENTS TO SEEK
BETTER THINGS.

Let those who confess their sin look at the text with hope, for it is
clear that—

1. God does speak to men. He may speak to us again.
2. God corrects for our good. It is meant for instruction, not for
destruction (see the margin).
3. God would have us trust him. He would not blame us for not trusting
if we were not permitted to trust him.
4. God would have us draw near to him. Else it were not mentioned as
our sin that we do not draw near to him.

All this applies to us at this day.

Still the Lord is in the midst of us, reading our inmost souls.

Let us lay our sins to heart, and seek his face through Christ Jesus.

A Few
Small Fishes

Remember, O my soul, the fig
tree was charged, not with bearing noxious fruit, but no fruit. —
Thomas Fuller

The last words that Archbishop Usher was heard to say were these:
"Lord, forgive my sins, especially my sins of omission."

Sins of commission are usual punishments for sins of omission. He that
leaves a duty may soon be left to commit a crime. — Gurnall

No sin is ever alone. Dr. Macdonald says, "There is no fault that does
not bring its brothers and sisters and cousins to live with it."

Oh, how rare it is to find a soul still enough to hear God speak! —
Fenelon Grace turns the serpent into a rod; but sin turns the rod into
a serpent. The former turns poison into a remedy; but the latter turns
the remedy into poison. — Benjamin Beddome

Sorrow is sent for our instruction, just as we darken the cages of
birds when we would teach them to sing. — Jean Paul Richter

“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith
in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?”

Well might the poet have put that question, if he had risen up from
reading this third chapter of the prophecy of Zephaniah. O people of
God, open your ears and your hearts while Jehovah thus speaks to you
by the mouth of his ancient prophet, “Sing, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of
Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out
thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of
thee: thou shalt not see evil anymore. In that day it shall be said to
Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will
rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over
thee with singing.” The words are very simple, but the promises they
convey are so weighty that the verses roll along like the triumphant
periods of a jubilant poem. The truth of God, even when told in the
simplest words, is very much akin to the loftiest poetry; and I might,
without the slightest hesitation, declare that there never was any
poem, composed by human intellect, which could match for a moment, in
the sweetness of its notes, the succession of precious promises which
God here proclaims in the ears of his chosen ones.

We cannot, on the present occasion, enter into the wondrous depths of
the promises here revealed. We should need, indeed, a long period of
time before we should be able to explain them; and, possibly, the
whole of life will scarcely be sufficient for us fully to realize
these great truths in our own experience. We will, therefore, at once
turn to the few words I have chosen as my text, “He will rest in his
love,” and we shall consider these words as referring to the Lord
Jesus Christ, and as relating to his divine and matchless love, which
he hath manifested toward his people in the wondrous works of grace
which he has accomplished for them and in them.

“He will rest in his love.” This short sentence is capable of
several interpretations, and each view we take of it has in it
something extremely delightful.

I. Here is, first of all, The Doctrine, That Christ Will Keep Ever
Faithful To Those Upon Whom He Has Set His Heart’s Affection.

The love of human beings is a fitful and flickering flame; it may be
set, for a season, with apparent constancy upon a certain object; but
you can never tell how long it will remain steadfast. However firm,
however true, and however fervent it may seem to be, and even really
may be, yet trust it not so implicitly as to come under that ancient
sentence, “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh
his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.” Trust not too much
to any friend whom you may have; put not all your confidence in any
man, for the best of men are but men at the best, and the firmest of
men are subject to the infirmities and the frailties of their race.
But God’s love is no flickering flame; it does not flare up for a
little while, like the crackling of thorns under a pot, and then die
out in darkness; it is not to be set forth by the image of a fool’s
mirth, which lasteth but for a little season. It beginneth, it waxeth
vehement, it diminisheth not, but it groweth from strength to
strength, till what seemed at first to be but a single spark, becomes
a mighty flame, and what was a flame becomes like the beacon-lights of
war, and what was but as a beacon becomes as the sun itself, in the
fierceness of its heat and in the majesty of its goings.

There are some who teach that Christ’s love may be set upon a man, and
yet that it may afterwards be removed from him. Where, then, remains
the comfort of God’s people if their teaching is true? But, thank God,
it is not true; for the promise of the text is that Jesus “will rest
in his love.” If their doctrine is according to the Scriptures, where
is the value of Christ’s affection at all? In what respects can he be
said to stick closer than a brother? How can it be true that many
waters cannot quench his love, neither can the floods drown it? If
these men are right, must not the apostle Paul have been wrong when he
declared that he was persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in the whole of
creation should ever be able to separate the saints from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus their Lord? Shall we imagine that the
apostle was mistaken, and suppose that this erroneous teaching is the
truth of God? Shall we turn away from the positive testimony of Holy
Scripture, and believe the falsehoods of men in its place, especially
when that Scripture is itself so full of consolation to God’s people
that, if it can ever be proved to be untrue, they may put their hands
upon their loins in agony of woe, and go to their graves full of
misery and despair?

But, beloved, ye know right well that Jesus Christ’s love, when once
it has engraved your name upon his hand and his heart, will never
suffer that name to be erased. Ye believe, and ye believe aright, that
he who has a portion in the heart of God has an eternal portion. He
who can claim for himself a share of the Father’s love, of the Son’s
redemption, and of the Spirit’s care, need never be afraid that all
the thievish hosts of hell shall rob him of his divine inheritance.
For look ye here, brethren, what is there, to separate you and me from
Jesus Christ’s love, which has not been tried already?

Can sin ever make Jesus cease to love me? If so, he would have ceased
to love me long ago. If there be any iniquity that I can commit that
would divide me from Christ’s love, methinks that I should have been
separated from him long ere this; for, in looking back upon my own
life, I am compelled, with shame and confusion of face, to fall upon
my knees, and confess that he has had a thousand reasons for thrusting
me out of doors if he had chosen to do so, and he might have framed
millions of excuses if he had resolved to blot my name out of the book
of life. He might have said, “Thou art unworthy of me, and therefore
I will be unmindful of thee.”

Further, if Christ had intended to cast us away because of our sins,
why did he ever take us on? Did he not know, beforehand, that we
should be rebellious, and did not his omniscient eye see all our sins,
and detect all our follies? Are we ungrateful? He knew that we should
be. Are our sins extremely heinous? He knew how heinous they would be.
He could foresee all; every spot that was to be upon us, was upon us,
before his omniscient eye, when he chose us; every fault that we
should commit was already committed in his estimation. He foreknew and
foresaw all; yet he chose us just as we were. If he had intended to
abandon us, and cast us away, would he ever have accepted us at all?
If Jesus meant to divorce his bride, foreknowing all her faults, would
he ever have espoused her? If he determined to cast away his adopted
child, since he knew that child’s unfaithfulness, would he ever have
adopted him? Oh, think not, beloved, that Christ would have done all
that he has done for nothing, that he would have come from heaven to
earth, and have even gone from the cross to the grave, and allowed his
spirit to descend into the shades of Hades, on a bootless errand!
Would he not have started back, and said, “I know my bride will prove
to be unworthy, therefore I will not espouse her”? But since he has
espoused her, and has put the red ring of his own atonement on her
finger, and has hitherto been faithful to her, what shall ever
constrain him to divorce her? What can ever induce him to cast from
his bosom her whom he died to save? It must be true that “he will
rest in his love,” for he has hitherto rested in it, though he has
had much to mourn over in his chosen ones.

Our sin, then, has not divided, and, we believe, never shall divide us
from the Savior’s love. What remains? Will sorrow ever separate us
from our Savior? Can tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, separate us from the love of
Christ? Nay, for all these things do but make the Savior manifest his
love to us the more. If Christ loves his people well in prosperity, he
never loves them any the less in their adversities. Do you believe
that Christ loves his children when they are arrayed in purple, and
that he will forsake them when they wander about in sheepskins and
goatskins, destitute, afflicted, tormented? If so, ye know not the
heart of Jesus. He loves his people well enough everyday; but if he
sees them stretched upon the rack, and about to die for his sake, if
it be possible, the infinity of his love must then surpass itself.
Well said the apostle, when he had mentioned all these sufferings and
pains, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through
him that loved us.”

Sin and sorrow, therefore, are perfectly incapable of rending us from
the heart of Christ, for he must, “he will rest in his love.” And
this truth will seem all the more plain and clear if we just pause a
moment, and think of our relationship to God the Father and to God the
Son. Is not every Christian God’s child? And did you ever know a true
father who hated his own child? You may have known such a father, but
it was unfatherly for him to hate his own son. Have you known a father
who has cursed his son, and driven him forth from his home, and
declared that he was not his child? You may have known some men of
that kind, or you may have heard of such unnatural creatures; but,
mark you, the father’s curse could not unchild his child; — he was
still his father’s son, even when he was cursed by him. Not even the
foulest words that ever came from the most embittered heart could ever
take away that child’s right to call that man his father; a child is a
child forever if he is once a child, and a father is a father for aye
if he is once a father.

Now, beloved, in the usual course of nature, we find that men will do
anything for their children that they possibly can do. Here is a poor
creature, born into the world, nearly an idiot; — it has not its
senses right, it is nearly blind and deaf, and its parents know that,
even if they can bring it up, it will always be a trouble to them; yet
you see with what studious care the father and mother endeavor to save
the poor child’s life. While others say, “If it were to die, it would
be a happy release,” both father and mother feel that they would be
losers by its death. “Ah!” said one good old divine, “if a father
could have a child that had lost eyes and ears, and feet and hands,
though he could not breathe in a natural fashion, though he could not
feed without some extraordinary means for the digestion of his food,
event then his father would do his best to keep him alive; and so
surely shall it be with that great Father, who, when he speaks of
himself, and of us, always puts his Fatherhood far higher than ours,
as Christ did when he said, ’If ye, then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which
is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?’ And truly I may
say, if an earthly father does not wish to lose his child, if he would
endeavor to save his child’s life though it was loaded with ten
thousand diseases, how much rather shall our Father who is in heaven
see to it that none of his little ones shall perish, but that every
one of them shall be preserved!” Do you not see that, because we are
God’s sons, we are, therefore, Jesus Christ’s brothers, and “he will
rest in his love”?

But there is yet another thought, for we have a relationship also to
Christ, and therefore “he will rest in his love.” We have never yet
heard of a man who hated his own flesh. Strangely wicked as it is, we
have heard of men who have hated their flesh in the mystic sense of
the marriage tie, and who have driven their wives from them with all
manner of brutality and cruelty. She whom the husband promised to
cherish and to nourish, he has driven away, yet he has never thus
treated his own flesh; the man may have become cruel and unnatural
towards her who is his own flesh by marriage, but not towards his own
literal flesh. Now, Jesus Christ has taken his people into such a
connection with himself that they are nearer to him even than the wife
is to the husband; they are as near to him as our own flesh and blood
are to our own head. What will not a man do to save his hand, or the
least member of his body? Would he ever cease to care for even the
feeblest portion of his frame? No; men are generally careful enough of
their own flesh and blood; much more, therefore, will our Lord Jesus
Christ protect the members of his mystical body, for we are his
fullness, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. And will Christ
lose his own fullness? Shah his body be dismembered? Shall the head
become a bleeding head, and the trunk become a corpse? Shall any one
member be left to die, to burn, to be destroyed? Oh, no! As surely as
we are brought into this relationship with Christ, so surely are we
saved beyond any hazard. This is one meaning of the text, and most
consolatory to the tried, tempest-tossed child of God.

II. I think, however, that there is another very sweet meaning to it;
that is, Christ Has Labored In His Love, And He Now Rests In It.

Let me draw a picture for you. Here is a man, who loves his hearth,
and his home, and his country, and his Queen. The sound of battle is
heard in the land, so he girds his sword upon his thigh, and marches
forth to defend all that is dear to him. He fights, he struggles, his
garments are stained with blood, and he himself is wounded. It is love
— love of his own safety, and of his family, and of his country, that
has made him fight so bravely. And now that the deed is done, he comes
back to his home. The foe has been swept from the white cliffs of
Albion, and the land of liberty is still free; Britons are not slaves.
The man retires to his house, and you see how quietly he sleeps, how
joyously he sits down under his own vine and fig tree, none daring to
make him afraid. With what joy does he now look upon the faces of
those whom he has defended, and upon the home for which he has fought!
What satisfaction does it give him to know that the honor of his
country is still unstained, and his land is still the home of the
free! Now he rests in his love; that which made him fight, now gives
him joy; that which impelled him in the day of battle to do great
deeds of heroism, is its own sweet reward. Now he rests because the
battle is fought, the victory is won, and he, therefore, rejoices in
the very love which once caused him to labor.

Now see the Lord Jesus Christ. laboring in his love. Love fetched him
from his throne in heaven; love disrobed him of his glories; love laid
him in Bethlehem’s manger; love led him through this weary world for
three-and-thirty years; love took him to Gethsemane; love oppressed
him till his sweat great drops of blood; love made him the great
Standard-bearer in the fight; love made him stand erect, the focus of
the war, when the storm gathered round his brow, and every arrow of
the foeman found a target in his heart; love made him —
“Calm ’mid the bewildering cry, Confident of victory;” —
love made him bow his head, and give up the ghost, that he might
redeem his people from their sins. Now, he is more than conqueror, he
rises to heaven, and he rests in his love. Oh, what a wondrous rest
that is! If rest be sweet to the laboring man, how much sweeter to the
bleeding Man, the dying Man, the crucified Man, the risen Man? If rest
be sweet after toil, how sweet must be the rest of Jesus after all the
toils of life and death, the cross and the grave! If victory makes the
soldier’s return joyous, how joyous must have been the return of that
conquering Hero who has led captivity captive, and received gifts for
men! Truly doth our Lord Jesus “rest in his love.”

Do you not see that the very thing that drove him to labor, now makes
a pillow for his head? That which made him strong in the day of battle
makes him joyous in the hour of victory, and that is the love which he
bears to his people. For, lo! as he sits down in heaven, he thinks
within himself: “I have done it, I have finished the work of my
people’s redemption; not one of them shall ever perish; no drop of the
hail of God’s vengeance can fall on them, for it has all fallen on me.
I have been smitten, I have borne the curse; and, now, they cannot be
cursed, they are delivered.” And then his holy mind roves on in
meditation: “I have taken away the curse, and I have given them the
blessing; I have brought many of them to know and love me; and, in due
season, I will bring all the rest; they shall come that are ready to
perish, for I must have every one of my blood-bought sheep with me
forever. They shall be blessed on earth, and by-and-by I shall have
them where I am, and they shall feed in these rich pastures; they
shall lie down where the wolf cannot come, and where desolation cannot
enter. The time shall come when I shall have their very bones
resuscitated, when their flesh, that has lain in the dust, shall live
again to be with me; so shall they all, every one of them, body, soul,
and spirit, regain all the inheritance that they had lost, and, with
all that double portion which I have gained for them, share the spoil,
and wave the palm, and be more than conquerors, through what I have
done for them.” This thought gives sweet rest to the Savior, who once
labored here below, and who now, in heaven, “rests in his love.”

III. I find that Dr. Gill gives this as one of the meanings of the
text, for he is always noted for giving a great variety of meanings to
a text; and, sometimes, nobody knows which is the true one.

When he is going to explain a
passage of Scripture, he says, “It does not mean this, it does not
mean that, and it does not mean the other.” Probably, nobody ever
thought it did mean anything of the kind. After he has mentioned
several things which it does not mean, he mentions some that it may
mean, and then, last of all, he tells us what it actually does mean.
He says our text :means, “He Shall Solace Himself In His Love.”

There is something very sweet in love; whether it is sweeter to be
loved or to love, I know not; but, certainly, when the two experiences
meet together, they are like two noble rivers which have flowed
through a rich and fertile country, and then combined to make some
great lake, or inland sea; then are they broad waters indeed. Now,
Christ sees our love; the love which he has put into us meets the love
which he has poured out towards us; and in both of these he finds a
sweet solace. He solaces himself in love; this it is that cheers and
comforts him. Some men, when they would be cheered on earth, drink the
wine which stirs their blood; some men find comfort in company, and
the noisy, thoughtless talker makes them glad; others, when they would
be solaced, turn to books; these are their joys. Others, when they
would be satisfied, chink their gold, look over their mortgages, their
estates, their bonds, and things of that kind; and some men there are,
who in this world have nothing sweeter for solace than the love of
those who are near and dear to them. The man who loves his home and
his family, and finds his little earthly heaven around his own hearth,
is one of the happiest men I know. Treasure that thought for a moment,
and think of Christ as taking delight in his family.

I never yet heard that Christ rests in his power. He has great power;
see what he has done. He has built the heavens; he has stretched out
the earth, and he upholds the clouds with his might: but he never
rests there. I know, too, that he has great wisdom: he knows all
things in the ages past, in the time present, and in the centuries yet
to come. He can unravel mysteries, and foretell all things, yet I
never heard that he rested in his wisdom. There is a great crowd of
angelic spirits, ever waiting in his courts above, and he, as King,
sits in the very center of them all, and before him principalities and
powers cast their crowns; but I never heard that he rested even in
their homage. No; our Lord Jesus Christ is like the man who loves his
family; he rests in the midst of his own beloved ones, — his spouse’s
bosom, the place where he hears his children cry, where he listens to
their prayers, the door at which he receives their thanksgiving, and
bestows his blessing, the house where they wait on him and he waits on
them, where they commune with him, and he communes with them; — that
is the place where he rests. He rests in his love, in the midst of the
objects of his love; there it is that he finds his own eternal
satisfaction, the solace of his heart.

Is not that a sweet thought? It has ravished my soul, while turning it
over, to think that Jesus Christ should ever find his rest among the
poor sons of men. Long ago, it was said of him, “His delights were
with the sons of men,” and now that is his rest, too. Oh, how
pleasant it is for us to know that our Lord will not sleep anywhere
but in the house of his beloved, and ’neath no other tree will he
recline but beneath the trees of his own right-hand planting! It is
very easy for me to say of Christ, “As the apple tree among the trees
of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons;” but it is surprising
that he should ever say the same of me. I can say of him, “I sat down
under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my
taste;” but it is wonderful for him to say the same of me, or to turn
to some poor saint, and say to him, “O soul! thou art weary, but thou
art my rest, and I am thy rest; thou art sick, but thou art my health,
and I am thy health; thou art sad, but thou art my joy, and I am thy
joy; thou art poor, but thou art my treasure, and I am thy treasure;
thou art nothing, and yet thou art my fullness, and I am thy
fullness!” Oh, what a host of precious thoughts we can meditate upon
here! We have started a whole covey of sweet things, and we might
profitably stand still, and admire them. It is not merely one sweet
thought, but many that are included in this one precious truth, “He
will rest in his love.” He never rested till he found that all his
love was given to us, and he never will rest completely till all our
love is given to him.

IV. The Hebrew conveys to us yet another idea. In the margin, we read,
“He Will Be Silent In His Love.”

Why is this? What can silence have to do with love? One old divine
thinks that Christ means, by this expression, to say that his love is
so vast that it can be better heard by his saying nothing than by his
attempting to express it. What a great deal Christ has said, in the
Scriptures, about his love; and yet hearken, O spouse of Christ, the
love that he hath not spoken is ten times more than anything he has
yet said! Oh, yes; there is much love which he has brought out of the
treasure-house, and given to you; but he has much more like it in that
divine heart of his. Some drops of his love you have already received,
but those bright clouds on high, those storehouses of his grace,
contain treasures of which you have never yet even dreamed. When you
read one of the promises, you say, “Ah, this is indeed precious!”
Yet, recollect that what our Lord has revealed in his Word is not a
tenth of what he has not said. He has said many rich things, but there
are richer things still. He has not said them, he cannot say them,
because they are unsayable, they are unutterable, they cannot be
declared; at least, not at present. When you get to heaven, you will
hear them; you cannot hear them here.

You know that the apostle Paul said, when he was caught up to the
third heaven, he heard words which it was not lawful for men to utter.
Perhaps he then heard more of the Savior’s love, as though Christ said
to him, “I tell you this, but you must not tell it to anyone else; it
is not lawful to utter it down below. I have made you a great vessel,
and you can hold this revelation; but as for the rest, they are only
little vessels; do not tell them anymore, it would burst them; do not
expose them to too great a heat of love, it would consume them; — they
would die if they knew more, — they cannot understand more. I have
told them so much of my love that, if they only understood all I have
told them, they would not be able to live on earth, their hearts would
burst for joy, and they would be obliged to flee to me above.
Therefore I tell them no more, for they cannot bear it.” So that, you
see, there is great preciousness in this rendering, “He will be
silent in his love;” as if he could not say it, therefore he would
not try to say it, he would just leave it alone. One poet, after
praising God with all his might, finds that he can go no further, and
winds up thus, — “Come, then, expressive silence, tell his praise.”
That is just the meaning of the text, as if Christ would say, “I have
said a great deal, but my people cannot understand; I will say no
more; I shall only now say, ’Come, then, expressive silence, tell my
love.’ “

There is,
however, a meaning that is, perhaps, even more correct. “He will be
silent in his love,” may mean that he will be silent about his
people’s faults; from the connection of the text, it looks like this.
“The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine
enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee:
thou shalt not see evil any more.” It looks as if he meant to say he
would be silent about their sins. There stands Christ in heaven today,
pleading for his people. Listen! He says nothing to accuse them. Satan
may accuse, but Christ never will. The good that his people do is
magnified, and multiplied, and perfected, and then presented before
the throne; but as for the sins of his people, he has cast them behind
his back, and all he says concerning those sins is this, “I behold no
sin in Jacob neither iniquity in Israel; my anger is turned away from
them; I have blotted out like a cloud their iniquities, and like a
thick cloud their sins.” Sometimes, love makes a man silent. If you
hear anything said against one whom you love, and you are asked, “Is
it not so?” you say, “Well, I am not compelled to bear witness
against one whom I love, and I will not do so.” You know that our law
does not demand of a wife that she shall give evidence against her
husband; and, certainly, the Lord Jesus Christ will never give any
evidence against his spouse: “He will be silent in his love.” If he
were called upon to say, “Has thy spouse sinned?” his declaration
would be, “I am the Sin-offering on her behalf. I am her Substitute;
I have been punished in her stead. I can say, ’Thou art all fair, my
love, there is no spot in thee.’ “ There will not be a word of
accusation from him. She says of herself, “I am all black.” He will
not deny it, but he will not affirm it. He says, “There is no spot in
thee;” and he goes on to say that she is all fair in his sight. O
glorious silence! “He will be silent in his love.” So am I inclined
to believe it will be at the last great day, when the books shall be
opened. Christ will read out the sins of the wicked recorded against
them; but, as for the sins of his people, “he will be silent in his
love.” I sometimes think that it will be so, though I cannot speak
with authority. “No,” he will say, “upon you be the curse, — you
who lived and died without washing in my blood in the fountain opened
for sin and for uncleanness; but as for these my people, they have had
their sins blotted out; and I will not read what is obliterated; I
will be silent in my love.”

‘Sing, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of
Jerusalem. . . . 17. He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest
in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.’— ZEPHANIAH 3:14, 17

What a wonderful rush of
exuberant gladness there is in these words! The swift, short clauses,
the triple invocation in the former verse, the triple promise in the
latter, the heaped together synonyms, all help the impression. The
very words seem to dance with joy. But more remarkable than this is
the parallelism between the two verses. Zion is called to rejoice in
God because God rejoices in her. She is to shout for joy and sing
because God’s joy too has a voice, and breaks out into singing. For
every throb of joy in man’s heart, there is a wave of gladness in
God’s. The notes of our praise are at once the echoes and the
occasions of His. We are to be glad because He is glad: He is glad
because we are so. We sing for joy, and He joys over us with singing
because we do.

I. God’s joy over Zion.

It is to be noticed that the
former verse of our text is followed by the assurance: ‘The Lord is in
the midst of thee’; and that the latter verse is preceded by the same
assurance. So, then, intimate fellowship and communion between God and
Israel lies at the root both of God’s joy in man and man’s joy in God.

We are solemnly warned by
‘profound thinkers’ of letting the shadow of our emotions fall upon
God. No doubt there is a real danger there; but there is a worse
danger, that of conceiving of a God who has no life and heart; and it
is better to hold fast by this—that in Him is that which corresponds
to what in us is gladness. We are often told, too, that the Jehovah of
the Old Testament is a stern and repellent God, and the religion of
the Old Testament is gloomy and servile. But such a misconception is
hard to maintain in the face of such words as these. Zephaniah, of
whom we know little, and whose words are mainly forecasts of judgments
and woes pronounced against Zion that was rebellious and polluted,
ends his prophecy with these companion pictures, like a gleam of
sunshine which often streams out at the close of a dark winter’s day.
To him the judgments which he prophesied were no contradiction of the
love and gladness of God. The thought of a glad God might be a very
awful thought; such an insight as this prophet had gives a blessed
meaning to it. We may think of the joy that belongs to the divine
nature as coming from the completeness of His being, which is raised
far above all that makes of sorrow. But it is not in Himself alone
that He is glad; but it is because He loves. The exercise of love is
ever blessedness. His joy is in self-impartation; His delights are in
the sons of men: ‘As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall
thy God rejoice over thee.’ His gladness is in His children when they
let Him love them, and do not throw back His love on itself. As in
man’s physical frame it is pain to have secretions dammed up, so when
God’s love is forced back upon itself and prevented from flowing out
in blessing, some shadow of suffering cannot but pass across that calm
sky. He is glad when His face is mirrored in ours, and the rays from
Him are reflected from us.

But there is another wonderfully
bold and beautiful thought in this representation of the gladness of
God. Note the double form which it assumes: ‘He will rest’—literally,
be silent—‘in His love; He will joy over thee with singing.’ As to the
former, loving hearts on earth know that the deepest love knows no
utterance, and can find none. A heart full of love rests as having
attained its desire and accomplished its purpose. It keeps a perpetual
Sabbath, and is content to be silent.

But side by side with this
picture of the repose of God’s joy is set with great poetic insight
the precisely opposite image of a love which delights in expression,
and rejoices over its object with singing. The combination of the two
helps to express the depth and intensity of the one love, which like a
song-bird rises with quivering delight and pours out as it rises an
ever louder and more joyous note, and then drops, composed and still,
to its nest upon the dewy ground.

II. Zion’s joy in God.

To the Prophet, the fact that
‘the Lord is in the midst of thee’ was the guarantee for the confident
assurance ‘Thou shalt not fear any more’; and this assurance was to be
the occasion of exuberant gladness, which ripples over in the very
words of our first text. That great thought of ‘God dwelling in the
midst’ is rightly a pain and a terror to rebellious wills and
alienated hearts. It needs some preparation of mind and spirit to be
glad because God is near; and they who find their satisfaction in
earthly sources, and those who seek for it in these, see no word of
good news, but rather a ‘fearful looking for of judgment’ in the
thought that God is in their midst. The word rendered ‘rejoices’ in
the first verse of our text is not the same as that so translated in
the second. The latter means literally, to move in a circle; while the
former literally means, to leap for joy. Thus the gladness of God is
thought of as expressing itself in dignified, calm movements, whilst
Zion’s joy is likened in its expression to the more violent movements
of the dance. True human joy is like God’s, in that He delights in us
and we in Him, and in that both He and we delight in the exercise of
love. But we are never to forget that the differences are real as the
resemblances, and that it is reserved for the higher form of our
experiences in a future life to ‘enter into the joy of the Lord.’

It becomes us to see to it that
our religion is a religion of joy. Our text is an authoritative
command as well as a joyful exhortation, and we do not fairly
represent the facts of Christian faith if we do not ‘rejoice in the
Lord always.’ In all the sadness and troubles which necessarily
accompany us, as they do all men, we ought by the effort of faith to
set the Lord always before us that we be not moved. The secret of
stable and perpetual joy still lies where Zephaniah found it—in the
assurance that the Lord is with us, and in the vision of His love
resting upon us, and rejoicing over us with singing. If thus our love
clasps His, and His joy finds its way into our hearts, it will remain
with us that our ‘joy may be full’; and being guarded by Him whilst
still there is fear of stumbling, He will set us at last ‘before the
presence of His glory without blemish in exceeding joy.

DISCLAIMER: Before you
consult commentaries, sermons or other resources, first consult the Word of God,
studying the Scriptures diligently (2Ti 2:15-note) and inductively(See inductive
Bible study) in dependence on your Teacher, the
Holy Spirit, Who Jesus promised would
guide us into all truth (John 16:13).

THOUGHTS ON
INTERPRETATION
OF PROPHETIC BOOKS

In regard to the OT Prophetic books such as
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and the 12 "Minor" Prophets, remember that the most
accurate interpretation is derived by applying the following principles:

(1)
Read the Scripture literally (unless the text is clearly figurative, e.g.,
Jesus said "I am the door..." Jn 10:9). If one interprets a text symbolically (allegorically,
figuratively, spiritualizing) when that text makes good sense literally,
one potentially opens themselves to the danger of inaccurate interpretation, for
then the question arises as to
who's "symbolic" interpretation is correct and how imaginative one
should be in
evaluating a "supposed symbol"? Many of the commentaries and sermons
on the OT prophetic books unfortunately are replete with non-literal
interpretations (except when it comes to Messianic Passages,
which are usually interpreted literally). Therefore the watchword when reading any commentary on Old
Testament
prophecy is caveat emptor ("buyer
beware"). Read all commentaries like the Bereans (Acts 17:11-note).

(2)
Study the context
which is always "king" in interpretation (don't take verses out of context.)

(3) Passages addressed to Israel should be interpreted as directed to
the literal nation of Israel and should not be interpreted as addressed to the
NTChurch, an entity not mentioned in the Old Testament. The
promises of Jehovah to the nation of Israel (e.g., see Millennial Promises) remain
valid
(Jer 31:35, 36, 37, Nu 23:19, Lk 21:33)
and have not been passed on to the NT Church because Israel has
"defaulted" (See study Israel of God).
Remember that while Scripture has only onecorrectinterpretation, there can be many
legitimate applications (See Application),
and therefore the OT prophetic books are extremely applicable in the lives of NT believers.

(4) Scripture is always the best commentary on Scripture. While an attempt
has been made to list resources that adhere to these basic interpretative
guidelines, not all the works listed in these collections have been read in
detail. Therefore should you discover a
resource you feel is NOT conservative and/or orthodox, please email your
concerns.

Millennium - Biblical descriptions of this time on
earth, primarily from the OT prophets

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Only KJV is free but can also download
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